Time

Time is going

The Stig’s time out here is drawing to a close, with only ten days to go now. It has been a really good time though. It hasn’t always been easy in fact a lot of the time it has been hard going. But throughout this time God has been there all the way. Leaving here won’t be easy because of wanting to stay on for a longer time, however the Stig is looking forward to coming home to see people again. So this post is going to be looking at some of the significant highlights of time out here, what God has been doing and some funny stories that haven’t quite made it here yet…

First up one of the highlights from being here has been living in a community sense, not just with flat mates but also with all the workers, there is a sense that everyone loves and cares for one another and that none of us are perfect we all have are struggles that’s a huge comfort because it means you know that you’re not facing challenges alone.

Sleep

A lot of people know that the Stig isn’t a great sleeper. But out here there has been some change. The Stig hasn’t had a bad dream for around 6 weeks, this has meant being able to go to sleep without worrying about what will be dreamt of. Although still not a great sleeper the stig is defiantly having better nights of sleep now.

Sharing

The stig has been able to have many conversations about Jesus out here. it isn’t easy to go deep without the native tongue thogh, however the stig trusts in God for someone to come alongside them and do this in the right way. Memorably sharing a couple of weeks ago in a café it was as if the stig was back on Alpha. But also being aware that though this you see the hold I*&%m has on people and how dark that can be.  Sometimes you share with someone and it doesn’t go well. The Stig doesn’t worry because he has two things in mind, the success rate of giving out leaflets is so low yet 1000’s of companies still do it so it must be successful. Secondly what the bible says “the angels rejoice over one soul that turns to Jesus” so why worry? Just keep doing all things for Jesus.

Sharing has also been about talking about ourselves and testimonies, the stig has shared his journey a lot the last few years.  Out here the stig has continued to do so. But it has also been with the community in different settings, one week stands out at the beginning where there was opertunity to share testimonies and what we wanted to get out of the time here. For the stig it was wanting direction as to where to go in the next few years , is this a long term call? Also to get an understanding of how life is for workers out here and some of the things that are faced by them here.

 

Personally

God has taken a sledge hammer to the stig in a lot of ways out here, in his character and how he is and how he functions. A lot of this has meant looking into the Stig’s past and forgiving people.  It hasn’t always been easy a lot of pain has been released and for the first time in over a year the stig has been able to cry about some things. However this is a good things and part of the healing process.  This has also been balanced out by nights laughing in the spirit with others. The times when the Stig is scared to deal with things he know doesn’t worry but rembers God knows what he is doing and isn’t going to put you in a place where you can’t handle it. the time out here has been a time of being taken apart for the stig, but it means that God can rebuild him in better ways for the future.

Team

So the Stig is the only one from his native country here, at first it felt slightly isolating, but actually its proved not to be at all, it has been a laugh whether its learning what an eggplant is, teaching words such as lorry or telling them how not to swear (this was by accident but proved to be rather funny) the meetings have been a great source of learning but also of friendship and drawing near to God.  The Stig got up to his old trick of helping with words on some nights. Some of the time with team has just been about having a laugh and a good time and that’s needed. Particarly if there has been a bad day with Arabic and you need to unwind with some fun.

Soo much more!

There has been so much more that has happened here from meeting with locals to also the touristy things so the Stig is going to leave a list below of some of these things for you, feel free to ask about any of them

Micro buses, koshari (Food), taxi journeys, hotty, cave church, graves, ain soukna, pyramids, al azhar, Egyptian museum,  Alexandria, shenagains, flat mate banta, lifts, metro

God bless see you soon Stig xx

P.S there is a video in the making from here.   

more of the stig

Conversations and life

Out here experiences of life are different to that back home. Not only is the temperature hotter out here but life works differently.  Time scale varies, in the UK we keep tightly to what we have planned out here it varies, some people work on “Africa time” so called because it is something found on this continent. The thing is the stig was partially expecting this when out here, but it has happened differently to expected. Some people run with “Africa time” others do not. For example running on Monday when meeting a friend we needed to be there for 9pm exactly. Yet yesterday we aimed for an original meeting time of 8 this turned to half 9. What the stig likes is that you can go with the flow of the time.  But you have to listen to the Holy Spirit as to when people are using “Africa time” or if they want you there for a specific time. It isn’t a hard and fast rule that most people run on “Africa time” , but you have to become dependent on God. Whereas back home you know when someone says to meet for a time you know what time to be there. However out here you are more reliant on God. The other thing to bear in mind is how long it is going to take to get there. Yesterday when getting the metro back from volunteering on the other side of Cairo there was   an issue of not recognising the station that had been excited from because it was dark and the environment had totally changed from a few hours ago by there being a market in the street, resulting in the best option being to get a taxi ride to meet people, only to find that it was a 5minuete cab ride away from where the station was.

The voluntary work out here has been putting food packages together for refugees to be handed out. The place this happens from would be somewhat unexpected from the outside, but the people running it are great. Unfortunately more Arabic is needed for better communication, but you find ways to communicate without using language in its normal form.  The stigs conversations with people here was amazing learning how different being a Christian in different parts of the world, not just that but also the difficulty in changing to this. Its not easy if people find J to live this out. For the stig despite knowing it to have been a hard change there isn’t the same difficulties faced as by others. It is hard to comprehend it until you meet people and realise the battle faced and the cost that can be seen from the other perspective. It is hard to comprehend from where the stig has grown up and what he has seen. To know people have been excommunicated for something the stig has so freely, it highlights the way that there is so much more freedom within different countries . b

Despite knowing the cost is high a part of the stig sees it that this means if someone is serious then they will realise the cost from the beginning.       

Well what a week this last week has been. Some stuff good some bad and some just different.

The bad stuff has been struggling to sleep this last week not just getting to sleep but being able to get up in the mornings. Partially this has been down to the room temperature being very hot, however since discovering the air conditioning works (hopefully still working tonight) this has made it easier. Many of you will know the stig doesn’t always have the best time with sleep, but this last week has been particularly hard. Part of this is also attributed to other reasoning which won’t be put on here, but has meant getting up in the mornings has been a massive struggle this last week. So that is the negative stuff, but the stig is praying and praying with others for this to improve in the next few weeks/last few weeks.

Last week’s Arabic lessons proved to be a good week and a fantastic time learning about fruits and vegetables and how to pronounce them. Banana proving to be one particularly funny word, being if said wrong it means something completely different to banana. The stig is making good progress with Arabic in terms of speaking and listening, however when it comes to writing Arabic it is more of a challenge.

Thrusday last week saw an adventure to garbage city and the cave church there. It was an amazing experience to be there. If you don’t know the story behind it look it up/ the stig can share when back home. The main areana/area seats up to 10,000 people and well honestly that’s amazing. The site its self is as well in particular some of the carvings in the stone. It is hard to describe in words and so there will be some pictures uploaded/video made at some point (hopefully this week). Although it is isn’t quite clear how this will work as yet.

Running last week proved to be a very good experience distance wise it was just under 5k for the stig he finished this in 35 mins (10 over his usaual speed) but being the pollution and traffic he was running though it was a good run and thoroughly enjoyed.  As such it is now happening again tonight!

One of the other things that happened whilst out running was the equivelant of running on an Aroad, very briefly but it was an incredible experience hopefully to be repeated. This is safe and fine to do as running with a local at 9pm at night the road is fairly quiet. This did not prove to be the only strange thing to happen on a busy road this week.  Whilst getting a taxi back home from a day out at the weekend (only a ten min journey at the most) the taxi driver took us onto the motorway and basically we realised he was taking us in completely the wrong direction towards the pyramids rather than where we wanted to go. This meant asking him to stop and pull over, now bearing in mind up until this point he was asking us where we are from and a few other questions, when I told him he was going the wrong way his response was “sorry I don’t speak English” funny that. We had him pull over by a slip road took our things and walked away. On the way down praying to find a taxi/transport back home we came across a tuc tuc driver who asked if we needed help, after that cab journey we wheren’t going to say know he took us back to where we needed to be for a cheap rate. Having wanted to go in a tuc tuc for a while the stig managed to fulfil this and was able to have a memorable journey back.

I’m sitting here having just finished my dinner and back from volunteering  it has been a really good few days since I last wrote on here and quite a while since I have uploaded.  So whats been amazing?

Well for starters I have been able to spend time with some amazing people who have seen a lot of this area of the world and North Africa who have had to leave countries because of not being welcome there anymore, it has given a valuable insight into some of the real things that can be faced in this area of the world. Clear things have been that training on how to deal with these situations is vital. When looking at this from a long term perspective it seems there is a view of carrying on whether it is by trying to go back to that country or another, life out here for people doesn’t mean giving up its all for Jesus, even with some of the problems and difficulties that have been faced God hasn’t let go or given up on people. But it puts the reality on what challenges and difficulties can be faced out here particularly in the long term.

That has been a big thing another big thing to have been happening has been talking to people who work for different companies its allowed is looking at how things can operate under different systems and how companies vary in working ways, but yet appear to work together on the field very well.

 There is more to come in the next couple of days on here. video will be in the making in the next few weeks before returning to blighty

God bless the stig xx

Good news!

Good news! It’s not the Dacia Sandero it’s the Stig writing again (hopefully this constitutes good news 😛 )

After last week’s couple of days of malfunctioning the Stig is once again firing on all cylinders. This last week a good variety of things have happened which will told in a minute. But first the stig would like to thank you for reading his blog; he doesn’t necessarily know who you are but appreciates you reading it. and for your p’s

Hair cut

Yes the stig has had his hair cut Egyptian style, well basically really short (short enough for Jonny  :P) this was in a combination of Arabic and English and resulted in discovering an egyptain 5b (khamcer) is more realistically a two. Thankfully hair grows back though!

Words

In the duration of learning Arabic there have been some discoveries that have been amussing. For example saying banana wrong results in saying sexy, so you could end up asking for half a kilo of sexy please!  There are also 28 letters in the alphabet but not all the same sounds as the stig is use to making it a complicated process. Further on when joining up letters some can be joined on one side or the other some only on one side some the other side and some are both. This is before you get to adding vowels into words as well.

But we have good teachers who make us laugh and are very patient. Not only that they are friends and care for us.

Freezer on the move

Waiting for the film of this to be sent over, but the stig and two others moved a freezer from one home to another via a motorbike with a trailer attached making it into a trike. The 3 of them on the back holding it whilst the trik negotiated city roads and potholes, veering onto two wheels at one point they skilfully (theoretically skilled anyway…) maintained control of the freezer and ensured upon its safe arrival at its new home.  Where upon the driver asked for the stigs shoes slightly different way to ask for a tip… but if you don’t ask you don’t know.

So what else happened last week, the stigs continouing lessons in Arabic are proving to be moving progressively forward, this has now lead to asking taxi drivers for more than just directions and having conversations with them all be in broken Arabic and English.

Playing football, out here there isn’t a good place to cycle/bike to use and so for the first time in 8 years the stig played football as a terrible a player as he thought he was he scored three times ( last one was an own goal but still…) this was with the team out here and proved to be a great time bonding with the guys. Stangely for the stig he enjoyed playing despite having always been reluctant to play in the past, the fact that other exercise opetrunities mostly involve 5 am

As much as the stig wants to talk about the adventures of this week further he has found the last few weeks to be a big challenge, God has taken a sledgehammer to his character and it may not have been the most pleaseant of experinces but the stig has been challenged a lot in both how he see’s himself and how God sees him. The realisation that his identity isn’t found in sexuality or by being a student but it is routed in Christ. Although this is something that has been said to the stig many a time it has taken a long time to be taken seriously. For years having gone by I’m the gay guy over there, to a point where he’s realsing actually his identity isn’t in that but in Christ in which he is a new creation (quote…), although that can be hard to share and realise out here. what has been happening is that parts of how the stig see’s things and functions have been taken away from him and allowing god to continue an examination of him. A person once told the stig (can’t remember the name unfortunately) that God is much more concerned about our character than where we are going. Out here that seems a strange concept being where he is and why he is here, but its true Gods using this time to work on character parts of the stig and teaching him though this.

It hasn’t just been about character, last week the under 30’s where prayed over (after teaching from 1 timothy 4/2 timothy 4 ( notes are not with the stig atm) and where prophacised over by those praying. It was a fantastic experience that God used to confirm things and highlight areas of worry and how he has them covered.

Some of the things said are:

The great commission for this area of the world

Jesus loves me and the same power that rose him from the grave lives in me

God will reveal the plans and what job/work he has lined up for me in the future

He will continue providing me with friends who love and support me back home as well as other needs.

It was truly awesome to be prayed for in this way. But out here you get the sense that the community loves and cares for one another, loving one another doesn’t nessciarly come easily but it’s here.

At the weekend we went to Alexandria for two days it’s a great city with a lot to do. Now this is probably a bit strange but I expeinced brotherly love in a new and great way at the weekend. Having gone to the beach most of our group swam out a fair distance, the stig not being the best swimmer didn’t go too far and one of the others rather than going out there stayed in the shallower water and talked with the stig. The love out here is of care and respect to one another and not just to those within the community but those who are outside of this. If there is one thing the stig could come away from this exerpince and say it is yes he shared the love of jesus with others.

Some fun stuff

American and british English are different this has been highlighted many a time whilst out here whether it’s  been talking about pants or learning what an egg plant is. What appears to be happening is that the stig is starting to pick up on these differences and calling things different names such as the pavement is now the sidewalk.  Rather amusingly he lets the british/English down as he does not drink tea or coffe. Nor did he eat fish and chips opting for just chips and banna spilts instead! Any other englishism you can name put down the bottom.

Taxi ride, met a taxi driver last week who wasn’t a M but wanted to know Jesus fantastic journey with him, he also wanted to teach me Arabic for $100 a day and me to teach him English for £10 egyptian pounds! Hmmm slight difference in currency my friend.

Tonight the stig is out running with an egyptain despite previous nerves he is giving it a go

A lot has happened these last two week from saying bye to a flat mate returning to his homeland to making new freindships, what is becoming clear though is that there needs to be total dependence on God and abding daily is crucial out here. there will be more updates from the stig in the week but time is not on the stigs side today and so will be posting by the end of the week. God bless stig xx  

TAXI!

 

Greetings hello and here is a wee story from a couple of nights ago. The Stig was on his way to help at an English conversation group, now being a little bit short of time rather than arriving hot and sweaty. The Stig felt the best solution was to take a taxi.

This was only the second time this had been done on his own the first one being in the previous afternoon. This is something that requires use of Arabic of which the Stig has only just managed to feel the confidence to complete this task without someone else doing this for him, it stands as a marker of achievement as to gaining confidence in Arabic.

Back to the story having successfully got a car pulled over and given directions to where he was going, the Stig noticed the car did not have a meter, hmm that’s odd the Stig pondered where is it? Slowly looking around the car the realisation dropped that this wasn’t a taxi! The Stig had got into a strangers car without realising it. At this point he realised the driver was taking him in the correct direction and so p’d for protection and safety. Having got to the destination the driver then asked for money as a taxi would. The Stig paid the man slightly more than the usual rate. Having departed from the taxi he learnt of his mistake for definite by the fact that the number plates where not orange but blue and the car did not have stripes down the side of it.

There are two things that have been learnt from this firstly always check the car you’re getting into that it is what you think it is. If it looks the same as the others, just double check!

Secondly even if it goes wrong and you realise you are not in a taxi you can get out or carry on and trust that there will be safety.

It isn’t much but it gives faith in humanity and to the safety of strangers. Whilst  in the west we teach “stranger danger” and by no way does the Stig say it is a bad thing, actually there is an amount of trust we can put into strangers.  An Irish poet put it like this “there are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met”

Gender stop

The gender differences out here can make some situations hard and or more difficult in terms of what you can and cannot do. One example being wanting to help someone. Seeing a women practically crawl along the pavement in pain and try and then up stairs, every part of you wants to go over and help. Yet you know that this isn’t possible because of the gender rules that govern the land not specially laws but as a male the Stig isn’t able to help or touch another female . it is frustrating the lack of communication avaible between the genders. Having come from a westernised background it is hard to understand the rationale and logic behind it. Your effectively trying to understand something that comes from a different culture. Something the Stig learnt about this a while ago was that; somethings are different and just different, like people walking sheep down the road, somethings are better , like the hospitality, somethings are not good. This area is one that it is hard to work out where to stand on it. having grown up with an equal view of treating the people the same regardless of gender. To then have that challgened by seeing gender differently is odd. It feels wrong but that doesn’t mean it is necciarly wrong . in some ways you can argue it is more respectful to not touch the other gender on the other hand it leaves you in situations whereby you can’t help. In Jesus’s time he hung around with people who where considered untouchable/socially excluded. Moreover when he rose from the dead it was women who saw him first. To the Stig this looks like an open shut case of helping people regardless of gender. But it isn’t that simple their needs to be cultural sensitivity to the situation and its implications to the wider group rather than what is seen as wrong and right.

Secondly a different example came from a film night whereby two female children didn’t talk to the Stig because culturally that isn’t something men and women do.  It’s very different for the Stig who spends a lot of time in female company, not seeking anything but because that is who his friends are. Whereas out here the gender ruling makes that more difficult to work with. In public there is an assumption of sleeping together/something like that going on. Although it isn’t being culturally sensitive to that means being aware of who you spend time with and in what groups you are in.

It was hard when sed children were saying good night and walk straight past you, yet at the same time you understand that it isn’t that they are being rude it’s just not the done thing out here and therefore why would they say goodnight. You are not a relative and they don’t know you. further on as one of only two males within the room at the time and the other one being related it wasn’t as if the Stig didn’t stand out in anyway.

To sum up the gender relations out here are different some aspects seem to be good, whereas other aspects of it seems either bad/different or very hard to get your head around.

So here is to getting use to life in a different place

p.s hair cut is required!

Guitar power cuts and life

 

This week has seen the start of routine “life” out here.  4 days a week Arabic including one day on “cultural Arabic”. It isn’t a very easy language to learn. The stig is behind the others somewhat but is planning to put in some extra hours over the weekend to catch up.  One of the great things about learning Arabic has been that we are all pushing hard to learn. Not only that, but the two different teachers we have fantastic. Although they have different approaches they are very patient, particularly when you forget something you were told 10 minutes ago! Which unfortunately the stig seems very prone to even if he has written it down.  However the stig’s inability to sit still and not move on chairs can result in some funny noises that provide amusement.

One particular anecdote from language learning has been when we were being asked where we lived and what address. Three of us living in the same place did not know the address, nor did our fourth housemate. It seems we know how to get to where we live but not the address.  Happily the address is on the fridge and so we refer to that when needed! Seems very stig typical to not know where he lives nor his local mobile number.

One of the things to come from language learning has been swapping numbers with a local who we are hoping to meet with over the weekend and get to know him and spend time with him. Yet to see how this will work out but we put it into J’s hand and see where it goes.

So the guitar well it has become a great source of fun during “down time”  not only as the stig has been learning to strum without a pluck until discovering a coke can lid thingmajig can be used as one. It’s been a source of singing to J but has kept us going during power cuts. Further from this it has also been used to make parody jokes about the ants which come out at night and cause chaos by being attracted to light. This usually means that during power cuts they will fly onto us and our response one night was to have a “ant” killing spree. At the moment we are looking into solutions to solving the problem but for now they live… the thing we have found about power cuts is they bring us together in a brilliant way , not that we are not together it just increases the presence of J.

Well last night there wasn’t any power cuts but the stig was back in the kitchen, old habits die hard 😉 cooking dinner for us all. Thanks to some food we had been given and the price of food out here this was the first time we all have eaten together properly proving to be a fantastic time along with some toilet humour video’s for entertainment it was a fantastic evening.

A big challenge the stig faces out here is gender relationships.  When you see someone in a shop that you know normally you can say hello, yet here it is a little different. The stig did this with someone who was female only to be told it is not good to do this in public. It’s an area that is proving itself hard for the stig to grasp. Women can’t/shouldn’t talk to taxi drivers apart from directions and yet men are encouraged to talk to them. In public men and women walk separately unless married. The stig being use to this being a mix finds it hard, particularly when walking in groups. It is also respecting the rules about being in rooms or houses with opposite gender and the impression it can give to other people. At the moment the Stig is working out to what level this is a good/bad/neutral thing and the best way to react and respond how J would.

Next week should see the start of the stigs voluntary work and updates will follow soon.

God bless stig

power, walk and future

Power cuts = awesome

The other night the power went out for quite a while so we switched over to candle light. Not being use to hour long power cuts it was a little strange at first. But what do you do when there is a power cut?  Well one thing for sure is that they bring people together. Sat around the table with a guitar we spent time singing and p ing together in the lack of light. Within this setting there was peace that could not be explained. It was an amazing time and demonstrated how when you having nothing you can have everything.

The future

Another evening saw a p walk around the area. Spent in two halves, firstly in the area just p ing for people. It can be hard out here when you see people and want them to know what you know but at the same time know you can’t say anything/ they won’t want to talk. Part of this is down to some of the poverty that is right outside from the injured to street children. But also those who are seekers. One of the hardest things is that the poverty starts at such a young age. One person who stands out is a child trying to sell tissues he is the most full of energy child around. Very determined to sell and doesn’t give in. but despite the reality the stig sees is that ultimately even buying his product won’t help his situation. Where does his future lie? Will he know J in the way I do? Will he still be wearing the same clothes in 6months time? How safe is he? All these questions for this one person who in effect represents more than just himself but the others around here like him, the elderly the parents , the other children and the injured. I look at it and wonder how does G fit into this? When the bib teaches us to care for the poor how does this work on a big scale does giving money away help or buying there product help. The problem being it isn’t easy for people from the stigs position (as a group) to help on a large scale because its seen as an attack on &^%$ and an attempt to change them. But the one thing I know I can do is p, p and p for long term solutions and people who can help these situations.

The stig

The latter part of the walk consisted at looking at the future for the Stig. Working out around 3 major options but being open to what G has planned, it has given the sense that these options are all viable. But there are things that need to be dealt with as well. Some short term some long term. One big problem is maintain and looking after health. In various ways this is something needing work on. At the centre of it is being open about the problems and working out how to solve them. some of this requires making sure that each option has a place of accountability and help. In the short term it is maintain health as it is but working out the ways to improve and deal with it. The stig isn’t ill in the sense of being physically ill but needs to look out for the mental side as well, further to the spiritual side in order to keep relationship with J at the heart of what’s happening.

Furthermore short term requires looking at how best to use time out here and continue with what has and will be learnt in order to keep it up upon return. G bless Stigg x J

This could work

I Found me a wife yeehaa 😉 Also need a hair cut

Being broken

 

Being out here one of the things you learn very quickly is how broken you are as a person. From an outside perspective this seems like a bad thing. But when you get into it, it isn’t. you accept the brokenness as a gift and use it. The fact that you can’t speak the language and feel useless it makes you rely on God more than ever. You realise you can’t do anything. When you look at the place where we are and the vast amount of people. It’s like how God how? How do you reach that many people? You then realise no you can’t but he can.

Another thing is the lack of fear, handing out %$£”” literature when in conversations without worrying about the consequences that could be negative. Instead looking at how this can be positive for somebody there is power in the bible. From this amongst the newbies it seems we have an attitude of what’s the worst that could happen they kill us or send us home? (Just so you know the stig is safe and well). it isn’t a sadistic fear it is more a sense of the way of living by the name of the company. Once you start living like this it makes life flow a lot easier.

Today has been a fantastic day embracing a tourist identity we went to the pyramids and rode some camels. The stig rode one called Michael Jackson. So you can now say … some say he knows dead people, others say that he rode Michael Jackson….. All we know is he’s called the stig. Hopefully some photos will go up at some point.

Further to this we had a meal at somebodies house experiencing amazing food and hospitality. But what followed was amazing conversation about life here from someone who has lived here their whole life and someone who has for 20 years.  It was a fantastic opportunity to learn. Not only about how hard it is for  !”£$%^& to change, but also the struggles they face and can be faced if working out here.  For us it also gave us an opportunity to open up about what we want from this time.  For me it’s to see the passion I have for seeing t*b$g&l find God and knowing the struggles within this. But learning this for !”£$%^& as well. I don’t know how the two work together or if they do but God knows and that’s more than enough for me. Good night folks. Stig xx J

week 1

The STIG diaries day 1

Today the Stig has been travelling around on foot getting use to the surroundings.  The Stig was nearly ran over by a minivan but managed to escape the ordeal unscaved. Learning the valuable lesson that minivans and motorbikes do not slow down when people are walking.

As a team there are 12 newbies, consisting of 8/4 ish male to female ratio. Local food is both cheap and good here.

The biggest C was a different experience where people of different tongues where using headsets, this experience meant that the new songs and message where different experience which his Stigness looks forward to in the next few months.

Goodnight J

Well this is the next update of what has been happening, will be divided into sections of various things

discovering local food to be both cheap and tasty: koshua (noodles rice and pasta) is one of the best foods out here very filling but very tasty. Other food has included fou which is a type of sandwich out here very cheap (8p in £0!) shurma is rather like kebab but in a roll and tastes fantastic. The food out here has mainly been coming from street venders and the stig is told that American food I not of the same quality, it has also been said it is the most common food to become ill from.

The metro sytem is a funny one out here and will most likely be avoided where possible.  Trains do not nessicarly stop at the stations they go through, like the do in London so it can be quite confussing. Further to this male and female carriages operate on most trains but then there are some which are mixed on other trains, you don’t really have a set rule for them

Taxis are the easiest away around after walking no two  are the same, however the prices will vary from driver to driver some you negotiate a price others use a meter.

We had one driver back from somewhere(Fill in) who had a review book and asked us to review his taxi he had air con and drove well so we gave him a good review.

Having been to various places around Cairo this week there everyone has been friendly and very open to talk about C things in a way that is not experienced in the UK it is within minutes you can end up talking about that type of thing, there is an immediate interest. Three for 4 conversations have led to mobile numbers been exchanged. Typically this has been when 2/3 have been talking to someone and then been able to use that as a place to talk about C/F.

Ilearn

I learn is one of the English language centre’s out here. it is where the Stig will start learning Arabic next week( Sunday-thrusday) but also be volunterring as a teaching assistant. As such yesterday’s training on this has proved to have encouraged and grown the stigs communication skills in this setting which should also be applicable within the Uk.

Stig and co…

The stig is the only person of his kind out here as everyone else is of a different group basing others are mostly USA based stigs. As a group they have various different experiences and travelled very different places between them. although as a team the stig has found it to be a fantastic expierence with a team that works well together. Although next week will be the start of the Arabic and other activities where the real work of being out here begins as introductory week will be over. One final comment is that it is very hot out here!

stig in twitter day 1

greetings this is the first update from the stig, some say he is up to early, others say he is completly mad. all we know is that he is travelling a very long distance today and will be updating you for the the next two months about his travels in twitter land (you know where he is….)

looking forward to a long day of travel he is up and getting sorted. thank you to everyone who has helped him get this far. particuarly with the last minute problems along the way